


Believe In Me

by eeyore9990



Series: 30 Thankful Days [28]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Universe - High School, Awesome Laura Hale, High School, M/M, Magical Realism, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Minor Laura Hale/Lydia Martin, Oblivious Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 22:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5308838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeyore9990/pseuds/eeyore9990
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Words have weight.  Give them shape, give them form, fill them with the power of belief, and they take on a life of their own. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Believe In Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [callunavulgari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/callunavulgari/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Nothingness and Becoming](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5308199) by [Mynuet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mynuet/pseuds/Mynuet). 



> 30 Thankful Days, Day 28: Gift for callunavulgari
> 
> \--
> 
> While Mynuet was trying to help me with this fic, she got bunnied by the prompt and WOW, y'all should so go read hers. It is linked above this note and it is sooooo good.

High school: the bane of every teenager's existence but a necessary stepping stone to the promised wonderland that was college, with its parties and late morning classes and apparent love of all things geek. 

Stiles sighed, then made a pained noise when his locker neighbor was slammed into _his_ locker by his girlfriend for a messy makeout session, forcing Stiles' locker door nearly closed on his head. Which he'd stuck inside his locker in an attempt to find the crumpled remains of the homework he'd technically finished before the Thanksgiving break. Shoving back against his locker door, Stiles braced his shoulder against it and pulled the stapled-together packet from under two books and the green and fuzzy remains of a sandwich. Still in the ziplock bag, thankfully. 

Stiles let the bag fall to the floor and shoved it under Zack's foot, hoping either he or his girlfriend would step on it. _Assholes_. 

As he smoothed his homework on the edge of his locker in an attempt to straighten it out, Scott came running up, cheeks flushed with pleasure because Scott was literally the only teenager on earth who actually looked forward to school. Seriously, Stiles had some reservations about the mental well being of his best friend, but well. Beggars couldn't be choosers. And he wouldn't trade Scotty for the world anyway. 

"So?" Scott asked, slightly breathless. 

Stiles handed over the inhaler he kept in his backpack and waited for Scott to take a puff on it before he lifted his eyebrows. "So… what?" 

"So how's the five-year plan going?" Scott's eyes went a little shiny as he smiled dopily. Apparently, he was under the mistaken impression that any of Stiles' plans were destined for success. 

And that was why Stiles loved the kid, embodiment of the heart-eyed emoji that he was. 

"Yeah, I'm still stuck on step one." Stiles rolled his eyes when Scott's brows furrowed, his lips moving soundlessly as he obviously tried to remember what step one was. "Get him to notice me." 

Scott's face went slack with heartbreak. "Aww, dude. You have three classes with him. Surely he--" 

"Derek Hale doesn't even know I exist," Stiles sighed, kicking a random wad of notebook paper down the hallway. 

\-- 

_Words have weight. Give them shape, give them form, fill them with the power of belief, and they take on a life of their own._

_The words left Stiles' mouth, blue and chilly, and travelled the hallways of the school, lingering here and there before dancing on like leaves on the wind._

\-- 

"Hey, superdork," Laura said, banging her backpack into her little brother as she slung it over her shoulder. 

Derek scowled and shoved her back before rubbing at his arm. "What?" 

"I hear Stilinski is thinking about trying out for the lacrosse team." Laura's eyes went wide and dewy before she batted them at Derek, a mean little smirk curving her lips. 

"Oh my god, Laura, shut up!" Derek hissed, looking around wildly. "Someone might hear you!" 

"So? Hey! Creepy sophomores! I heard Stilinski is thinking about trying out for the lacrosse team!" Laura shouted down the hallway. Not a single student even looked up, too frightened of Laura to dare glance in her direction. Laura didn't pay them any attention anyway, too busy taking delight in the embarrassed color that burned in Derek's cheeks even as his eyes flashed blue. "Oooh, do I need to tell mom that you're having issues with control?" she teased, poking him in the side. 

"Shut up. Ugh, what did I do in a past life to deserve _you_ for an older sister?" 

"I don't know, but it must have been awesome. Too bad the you from this timeline isn't half as great." Laura flashed her perfect white teeth in a smile guaranteed to piss him off; Derek had always been a little sensitive about his adorable bunny teeth. "But seriously, bro, you need to do something." 

"I don't know what you're talking about," Derek huffed, looking down to avoid her eyes. Not that it hid the skip in his heartbeat. 

"Oh my god, you're going to do something," she hissed, suddenly filled with excitement. As much as she enjoyed poking at her little brother until he snapped, she was kinda invested in his huge, dorky boy-crush. 

Derek bit his lip, eyes flickering around the hallway before he glanced at her, a little smile curving his lips. "Yeah. I'm… I think I'm gonna invite him to the winter formal." 

Laura went to cheer, but just as she got her arms up, Derek staggered, his eyes flashing a sickly, neon green before fading into his wolfy blue and then returning to human again. "Jesus, Der," Laura said, grabbing onto his shoulders and holding him up when his feet went a little wonky under him. It wasn't an earthquake because literally no one else was staggering, but something was wrong with him. 

"Laura?" Derek reached up, grabbed hold of her arms in a grip that would bruise -- however briefly -- and exhaled a long, slow breath. Then he turned and walked off down the hall toward his first class like he hadn't just had some sort of episode in the middle of school. 

Jogging to catch up, Laura hit him in the shoulder, hard. "What the hell was that?" she asked, her voice a little growly with concern. 

"What?" Derek shot her a confused look just as they pulled even with the door of his US History classroom. "What are you talking about?" 

The first bell rang, reminding Laura that her calculus classroom was on the other side of the school. "Shit," she muttered. "Listen, if you're not feeling well, go to the nurse. Have mom come get you. You can't be losing it in the middle of school, Der." 

"What are you--?" 

But Laura was already backing away down the hallway. "And I better hear all about you and your new boyfriend by lunchtime!" Leaving him blinking oddly after her, Laura turned and ran. 

She couldn't afford another tardy. 

\-- 

Stiles stared at the back of Derek's head, sighing quietly at how thick and shiny his hair looked, how it curled against the back of his neck and called out for Stiles' fingers to comb through it. Curling those fingers into a fist to keep them from reaching out, Stiles jerked up when he heard his name called. 

"Mr. Stilinski, thank you for returning to the present. If you'd like to get caught in something, perhaps you could take a trip to April of 1889 and tell me what happened in the Oklahoma territory." 

Sinking down in his seat, Stiles coughed once and said. "The land rush. Thousands of people ran for and claimed land." 

In front of him, Derek raised his hand. When Mr. Yukimura called on him, Derek said, his voice sounding a little weird, "The land rush." 

"That… was correct the first time, Mr Hale, but thank you for confirming that for us." 

Stiles sighed, tapping his pencil on his desk as he returned to staring at Derek Hale's head. 

\-- 

Laura pulled her straw from her juice box with her teeth, then blew a harsh breath through it, delighting in the way Derek pawed at his face to wipe away the spray of juice. 

"Dammit, Laura!" 

"Just trying to get your attention. So?" 

Derek frowned heavily, pulling the sleeve of his shirt over his wrist and scrubbing it against his cheek. "So what?" 

Sitting forward, Laura sighed and gestured toward the table where Stiles and his adorable little puppy of a best friend were talking to one another. "Did you ask him?" 

Derek followed her not-so-subtle pointing and stared for a moment before shrugging. "Ask him what?" 

"Ask him to try out for lacrosse, of course," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Then, fed up, she hissed, "Ask him to the dance, you dork!" 

"McCall?" 

Snapping her head around, Laura looked to make sure Stiles was still there before she turned back to Derek and shouted, loud enough in her exasperation that it travelled over the chattering conversations all around them and silenced the chattering masses. "No! Stilinski!" 

\-- 

Stiles looked up at hearing his name, the blood draining straight out of his head when he saw that it was _Laura Hale_ , queen bee of the school, shouting it at her brother. The guy Stiles crushed on like a … crushing thing that crushes. Garbage compactor, probably. Because he was Derek Hale trash. 

Stiles sighed, which changed to a quiet moan when he clearly, through the sudden silence, heard Derek say, "Who?" 

Even Scott winced at that, reaching across the table to pat Stiles on the shoulder. "Sorry, dude." 

Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, Stiles stared down at his food, then pushed it away from him. "Whatever," he whispered, the word a little croaky. "S not like I didn't already know it." 

\-- 

Laura stalked through the halls, anger driving her to stop random students and demand the location of Stilinski's locker. The first three just shook their heads, one with enough irritation that Laura narrowed her eyes on the girl, a feeling of grudging admiration filling her when the girl tossed her long red hair over her shoulder with a roll of her pretty green eyes. 

"Who?" 

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Laura growled. Sticking her hand a few inches above her head, she said, "Yea high, buzz cut, adorable moles? Sheriff's son? Jesus, the kid has lived here his entire life." 

A random jock came up and slipped a possessive arm around the girl's waist, tugging her into his side before smirking at Laura. "You looking for McCall's friend?" 

Laura crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at him in anger when that move prompted him to stare at her breasts. This fucker didn't deserve his pretty girlfriend. "I'm looking for the Stilinski kid, yeah." 

"His locker's down the math hallway. Do you want me to show you?" 

Laura's eyebrows went winging upward and she turned her incredulous stare on the girl at his side, who was looking at her boyfriend with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. 

"What a lovely idea," she said, her voice light and airy as she pressed the heel of her very pointy shoes into the top of his foot while stepping over it. She ignored his little muffled cry of pain as she held her hand out to Laura. "Lydia Martin. I'm more than capable of escorting you to the math hallway." 

Laura looked Lydia up and down, enjoying everything she saw from the high heels that brought her height almost up to Laura's to the short skirt that swirled around the tops of her thighs. "Sure thing, princess," she said. Then, "Wait. Martin…you're top of your class, right?" 

Lydia nodded, a flirtatious smile on her face as she began walking down the hallway. "Of course. Like I'd let any of the peons beat me." 

"Then what the hell were you doing with that douche?" 

"When he's not using it to demonstrate his own ignorance, he does have a very talented tongue." Lydia shrugged, glaring at a boy who didn't move out of their way fast enough. 

"Huh. Yeah, no, sorry. It can't possibly be that talented." Laura was about to drag the guy a little harder but she spotted Stiles just then and put a hand on Lydia's arm, stopping her. "Hey, thank you. I see Stilinski though, so I'm just gonna…" 

Lydia looked around curiously, eyes flitting right past Stiles. "No problem," she said, quirking a quick smile at Laura before she blinked and turned around, walking back the way they'd come. 

\-- 

Stiles felt himself being grabbed and slammed into the bank of lockers behind him and all he could do was let out a cut-off squawk of alarm. Turning, he looked down into Laura Hale's angrily narrowed eyes and let out a little meep of sound. 

"What the hell did you do to my brother, Stilinski?" she asked, her voice cutting and cold. 

"I… what? I didn't do---rrrk!" Her forearm in his throat cut off his voice. And his oxygen. Slapping at her arm weakly, Stiles tried to get away only to find that she was a hell of a lot stronger than she looked. Leaning on him a little more, to make him feel it, she finally stepped back. "I didn't _do_ anything," he whispered hoarsely, rubbing at his abused throat. Then he looked around the hallway; the hallway that was filled with _sophomores_. "Why are you in _this_ hallway?" 

"Looking for you," Laura said, rolling her eyes as she braced her hands on her hips. "Lydia Martin showed me the way." 

"Lydia…? I didn't think she even knew I existed," Stiles muttered, blinking as a small smile began to curve his lips. Holy shit. Lydia Martin knew who he was. 

"Whatever, Stilinski. I want to know what you did to my brother to make him go from practically spouting sonnets at the sound of your name to denying your very...existence." Laura's voice went a little flat and far away at the end, like she'd checked out of the conversation. 

"Sonnets?" Stiles asked, then he shook his head. "Look, I don't know what you're after, but your brother has never even made eye contact with me, much less… No." He shook his head again, running into the lockers as he tried to back up. "No, you must be mistaken. He doesn't even know I--" 

"Exist?" Laura asked, eyebrows raised. 

"Whatever, Hale," Stiles muttered. Picking up his backpack, he slung it over his shoulder and started off down the hall to English. 

"Be careful, mini sheriff," Laura called after him, making him flinch a little. "Words have power." 

_Great_ , Stiles thought, hanging his head as he trudged along. If there was anyone who _didn't_ know his dad was the Sheriff, they probably did now. 

\-- 

"Mom?" Laura called, poking her head into the study. 

Talia looked up, smiling tiredly at seeing her daughter standing there, filling the doorway with her vibrant presence. "Hey, sweetheart. What's up?" She rubbed her eyes and closed the book she'd been translating, setting it aside for later as she focused on her daughter. 

"You know how you've always told me that words have power?" Laura perched on the arm of the chair that sat across from her mom's desk, picking at a thread on her jeans. 

"Yes." Talia leaned forward in her chair, hands folded in front of her as the weariness dropped out of her expression to be replaced with a nearly animalistic focus. "Why are you asking?" 

"So you know how Derek has been…" 

"Twitterpated?" 

Laura laughed softly, but couldn't shake the worry that had been gathering like a storm all day. "Right. Twitterpated. Well, he was talking about asking Stilinski to the formal this morning and then…" She shrugged, helpless. "Then at lunch, it was like he'd never heard of him. And when I confronted Stilinski--" 

"Laura!" 

The reprimand in Talia's tone made Laura flinch a little, but she set her jaw and continued regardless. "He kept saying that Derek didn't know he existed. And there were other people at the school who should have known who he was, but when I asked, they all acted like they'd never heard of him." 

"Impossible. He's the sheriff's son. Even if they aren't friends with the boy--" 

"Exactly! They should know who he is. But they didn't. Mom, I'm telling you, it's like he didn't...exist. For them. And he even mentioned it again. That he didn't think they knew he _existed_." Laura's hands cut through the air before she pulled them back against her chest, sad and fearful in equal measures. 

Talia sat back in her seat, a troubled expression on her face. "How can I help?" 

\-- 

"Hey, kid." 

Stiles looked up from his homework to see his dad leaning against the door, one hand wrapped around the doorknob as he smiled softly at his son. "Hey, Dad. What's up?" 

"Talia Hale just called me." 

Stomach clenching in some combination of fear and embarrassment, Stiles tried to look nonchalant as he bounced his pencil against his paper… and only succeeded in leaving a handful of jagged dots on his homework. "Uh. Really? What'd she want?" 

"She's coming over. Bringing her kids with her. She said Laura wants to apologize to you?" Coming into the room, his dad sat gingerly on Stiles' bed. "What's that about?" 

"Oh. Uh, nothing. I mean, she thought I did something -- _something I didn't do_ \-- and got a little confrontational at school today. It's cool, though. I mean, she didn't hurt me or anything." Stiles looked down at his desk, idly reaching for a pink eraser and rubbing the marks off his homework while he waited for whatever was coming next. 

"Okay. I just wanted to give you a bit of warning, in case there was anything to be concerned about." His dad stood and walked toward the door. When he was almost out of the room, he stopped and half turned. "Oh, and I guess Derek is with them too." 

"What?!" Stiles squawked, tumbling out of his chair and then getting tangled up in it as he tried to scramble toward his closet to find something less… _dorky_ to wear. "Oh my god, Dad! Lead with that next time." 

His dad's laughter just floated down the hallway, making Stiles grumble under his breath something that sounded a lot like, "Asshole." 

\-- 

"Why are we at the Sheriff's house?" Derek asked, looking out the window. Turning to his mom, he blinked a few times before he whispered, "Did someone… does he know?" 

"No, dear. We're here because your sister has an apology to make to his son." Talia smiled at Derek and patted his knee. "You remember his son, don't you? I believe you're in a few classes together." 

Scratching at his jaw, Derek shrugged. "Nah. Not ringing any bells." 

Talia and Laura shared a look while Talia parked and shut off the car engine. "Derek," Talia said, something powerful in her voice. 

"Yeah?" he asked, guiding the seatbelt back to its holder. 

"The son of the sheriff. His name is Stiles. The boy you go to school with. _His name is Stiles_." 

Derek's forehead creased and he blinked several times before shaking his head, like he was trying to shake water out of his ears. "What?" 

Laura took up the call then. "Stiles. Stiles lives here. Stiles goes to school with you. He's in your grade. You have history and English and math with him. His _name_ is Stiles." Laura sat forward, grabbing Derek's shoulder to hold him back from opening the car door. She caught his gaze in the mirror. "Derek. His name is Stiles. Say it." 

"St-- What's going on?" Derek asked, nearly slurring the words as his eyes flashed blue and green. 

"Say his name, sweetheart," Talia urged. 

The front door of the house opened, the light on the front porch showing the faces of the two men standing there. Pointing, Laura asked, "Who is that?" 

Derek murmured, "That's the sheriff." 

"And who is standing with the sheriff?" 

"That's…" Derek blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he began to go a little pink around his ears. "Stiles?" 

Laura threw her door open then. "That's right, baby brother. Stiles. Now, come on. Let's get your boy before he opens his damn mouth and trips over his appalling lack of self-confidence again." 

Slowly, Derek opened his door and followed her, staring at Stiles the whole way, at once like he'd never seen the boy and like he'd been looking for him his whole life. 

\-- 

"It's fine," Stiles assured Laura for the third time, blushing under her mother's scrutiny and trying hard not to make a complete fool of himself in front of Derek. 

Because _Derek Hale_ was at his house. 

Derek Hale was at his house and alternating staring at Stiles and blushing at the floor. Like… what the hell? 

"But um," Stiles said, scratching the back of his head as he tried to focus on Laura instead of her brother. "If you want to come in and have some…" He blanked on what sort of beverages they had in the refrigerator and just finished with a blurted, "water? I can get you all some water." 

"Water would be lovely. Thank you so much. What a lovely young man. Such a credit to you, Sheriff Stilinski," Talia murmured, reaching out a hand and placing it delicately on his dad's arm. 

Stiles widened his eyes at his dad before turning that shocked look on Derek, who was back to biting his lip at the floor, and then shifted his gaze to Laura, whose shoulders were shaking as she pursed her lips, eyes dancing with mirth. "Yeah, okay," he said, dazedly. "Let's uh. Kitchen. Right this way." And then he just turned around because they'd been in the living room and the kitchen was seriously right there, open concept and all. 

Stiles wanted to stick his head beneath the faucet and drown himself, but instead he soldiered on, leading the small group into the rather too-tiny kitchen and opening the fridge. Milk and orange juice. Okay, then. Slamming the door shut again, he went to the cabinet and took five glasses down, turning to find that Derek had followed close behind him. 

"Hi." Derek's cheeks went a little rosy, but he was at least maintaining eye contact now. "Sorry about…" He sort of waved his hands behind himself, then tangled his fingers together in front of him, looking adorably shy. "I mean." He blew out a breath and said, "Sorry. Do you need some help?" 

"I mean," Stiles shrugged, the glasses all gathered in his arms, "it's just water? There's a thing on the fridge." 

"Yeah." Derek nodded, looking at the refrigerator like it was the height of technology. "Cool." 

"But if you want to help," Stiles said, hating himself a little, "you could, um. Get the ice? Which… you have to do the ice first or the water just splashes everywhere and--" 

"Will you go to the winter formal with me?" Derek asked, the words nearly blurring together he spoke them so quickly. 

Stiles just stared at him, taken aback. And then, like an idiot, he whispered, "Me? I didn't even know you--" 

"Say yes!" Laura nearly screamed, suddenly _right there_ , clapping a hand over Stiles' mouth. "I mean, if you want to. If you want to go to the winter formal with my brother, just say yes." 

Stiles blinked, sharing a wide-eyed look with Derek, who appeared ready to melt straight through the floor. 

"Oh my god, _Laura_." 

"Trust me. He did _not_ need to finish that sentence," Laura growled. 

Stiles licked her hand, grinning a little when she yanked it back with a scowl. Shrugging at her in apology, he turned back to Derek and nodded. "Yeah, I mean. If you're sure you want to go with _me._ I know I'm not exactly on your radar." Stiles flinched as Laura lunged for him again, mouthing _what the fuck?!_

Derek just ignored his sister's antics and stepped forward, hooking his pinky finger with Stiles'. "Of course I want to go with you. You're the _only_ person on my radar. I mean…" 

"You _believe_ in him?" Laura asked, her voice almost shrill. 

"What?" Derek frowned at Laura before turning back to Stiles. "I'm so sorry my family is so weird. He's not Santa Claus, Laura, _god_ ," Derek grumbled. Then he smiled sweetly at Stiles. "I do want to go with you. If you still want to have anything to do with me after all… this." He jerked his head pointedly at his sister and rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah," Stiles said, a small smile blooming on his face and turning wide and blinding after a second. "Hell yeah, I wanna go with you." 

\-- 

Laura collapsed against the kitchen counter, then thought better of it and swiped a glass from Stiles who was _still holding them_ while sharing love-struck looks with her idiot brother. Filling it from the refrigerator door, she guzzled the cool water and then pulled out her phone, dialling a number she might have obtained under sketchy circumstances. 

"Hello?" 

"Lydia, hello. This is Laura Hale." 

Okay, maybe her brother hadn't wrapped everything up with a neat bow. She'd have much preferred if he'd said something firm and binding like _I believe in you_ , but Derek lived to foil her plans, so. Whatever. Not even Stiles Stilinski with his oddly magical disbelief in his own existence could possibly convince himself Derek didn't know who he was anymore. 

And after a job well done, there was only one thing left to do: reward herself. 

"I find myself without a date to the winter formal. I _believe_ ," she said, crossing her fingers behind her back with a little grin, "you should go with me." 

**Author's Note:**

> Deepest thanks to Mynuet, Frozenbrimstone, VoubleDision, and Oncetherewasapirate for all their help!! I'm still not sure I got it right, but if I'm even close it's because of your guidance.


End file.
